Kashoua "Kristy" Yang was elected Branch 47 Milwaukee County circuit judge by a wide margin Tuesday, with her biggest win coming in Milwaukee, where she beat attorney Scott Wales by 10,707 votes and captured 63% of the total ballots cast.

Overall, Yang won 12,662 more votes than Wales did, beating him 49,394 to 36,732. She won 57% of the countywide vote.

She will replace Circuit Judge John Siefert, who did not seek re-election.

Yang

​Some 14.8% of registered county voters cast ballots in the race, according to preliminary county election returns.

Yang, whose campaign emphasized her Hmong-American heritage and her experience as a private attorney, won in 11 of 19 communities. Besides Milwaukee, Yang won more than 60% of the vote in Shorewood and West Milwaukee, capturing 61% in each.. She also carried Brown Deer, Cudahy, Franklin, Oak Creek, St. Francis, South Milwaukee, Wauwatosa, and West Allis.

Wales, a criminal defense lawyer in private practice, won in 66% of the vote in Fox Point – where he is municipal judge – and 65% in Bayside. He also carried Glendale, Greendale, Greenfield, Hales Corners, River Hills, and Whitefish Bay.